Council approves cop car cash

The Syracuse Common Council unanimously approved spending $959,000 this afternoon for new police cars.

Bill Ryan, who is also the chair of the public safety committee, advanced the measure, despite being unhappy about the way the department currently uses its vehicles.

He said the police department has 306 cars, 47 of which are taken out of the city each night by officers who have been given take-home cars and live in the suburbs.

Ryan said he will request that the mayor examine the issue of take-home cars.

"How can that many take-home cars be justified?" Ryan asked. "And that's just the officers who live outside of the city. How many more in the city have take homes?"

Ryan, a big supporter of spreading the requirement that city workers live in the city to departments like police that are currently exempt, said giving take home cars to officers who live outside of the city makes little sense.

"If the idea is to cut down on response times, then make them live in the city," Ryan said. "Right now, the chief of police lives in Marcellus. If there is a major crime, he's 20 minutes away. I have a problem with that."